This is the best intro to strength exercise! It is printed out and heavily highlighted. Thanks for all the great info, everyone! I am seeing a personal trainer this week. I am researching and experimenting to have my workout determined, and just have the trainer help me with form.

boardn10 wrote:Upright rows? Avoid them! With this exercie, the shoulder is internally rotated with the hand pronated and at the top of the movement the humerus is moved forward. In this way, it pinches the tendon of the long head of the biceps and hits the shoulder bursa, squashing it into the acromium of the scapula. This can lead to a lot of problems and most likely will, in the long run.

xphilx wrote:i agree with you on the upright rows.

I second that! Nothing has the tendency to injure my rotator cuff like a set of upright rows will...

When I first got into bodybuilding I developed a program that was intended to carry me through my first year to establish a "year one baseline". It has ended up being a permanent fixture in my training, as well as the foundation for all of my clients` programs as well.

It is based on 4 13 week "phases". 12 weeks of training,1 week of recover/recoup/whatever you`ll call it (I like to call it CNS deprogramming LOL). For the very new trainee, the first two weeks is reserved for anatomical adaptation training. I`ll illustrate the program for the experienced trainer:

weeks 1 - 4: Setting baselines, establishing your foundation. Basic, compound lifts to build a strength base and strengthen joints, and to build a frame of skeletal muscle stimulation. Heavier lifts, fewer reps (6 to 8, generally), more rest between sets. This is also where anatomical issues like biomechanics and injuries will identify themselves.

Weeks 9 - 12: Specific effort to attain a specific end result. (very personal. Can be anything from crazy oblique striations to better bicep peak or even that last inch from the waist or those last few pounds you were shooting for). CLEARLY identify your goal. Make any necessary changes to the program to get you there, maintain what has proven effective over the previous 8 weeks.

Week 13: reevaluate. Did you hit your goals? Why or why not? Use this week to applaud yourself for the effort and to gear up for the next round.

Training frequency will stay the same same throughout. I prefer a schedule that gets each muscle group three times in two weeks. (My legs are freakishly responsive so I`m lucky if I train them 2 or three times a month, but that`s another discussion). I do encourage a split routine to keep the intensity very high and time in the gym to an hour or so on the training itself. Cardio can tack on a few more minutes. My personal split is chest/biceps/triceps, shoulders/back, legs. When I`m in full force, my routine is this : Monday CBT, Weds SB, Friday CBT,Sunday Legs, Monday 2 SB, Weds 2 CBT, Friday 2 SB. That gives a full day between upper body workouts, and three days recovery before repeating the bodypart. I do abs just about every workout. I will usually superset them in with my last exercise of the day. I`ve discovered an ab exercise that works very, very well so I don`t have to go crazy with the sets and reps. 4 sets of 10 - 12 is all it takes.

Obviously there will be tweaks to the program if someone`s personal goals are extreme. For instance, I`d have someone stay on phase 1 for 6 to 8 weeks if their goal was to add a significant amount of muscle in the shortest time, or if they wanted to drop an extreme amount of bodyfat I`d spend more time on phase two. With that said, I have found that this program delivers the most satisfying and motivating results. If you`re 20 pounds over weight and your goal is to "get shredded", you`ll get discouraged blasting straight toward that goal with no checkpoints along the way. Following the phased program you`ll get more visible results quicker, and stay motivated. And for the person wanting that beach body and gain 25 pounds of muscle, they`ll find that adding a little bit of muscle, then chiseling it down to a rock solid, lean body will be far closer to what they actually wanted to look like and won`t waste 6 months trying to "get huge".

There is obviously a LOT more to it than what`s written here. once it goes from being *A* program to being *your* program, it`ll be personalized to you as an individual.

Just to note... since stretching was mentioned, I was recently reading a sports science journal that says static stretching before lifting can decrease your lifting strength - by up to 30%! They recommend dynamic stretching and a warm up set instead of static stretches. Static stretches are okay after your work out.

If it's important to you, you'll find a way. If it isn't, you'll find an excuse.

***Every day I go into the gym, I add 5 more pounds to the exercise than what I had the last time I was at the gym. This follows the "you're not building muscles if you're not adding weight!"

I don't do arm curls, or tricep exercises. I don't need to! My muscles grow in accordance to what I lift! This follows the "...if you can bring a muscle to grow two times per week instead of only once, you will grow 104 times per year instead of 52". And it WORKS.

I'm in and out of the gym in less than a hour.

I also agree to mix it up every 3 months to keep from plateauing.

I'm up to 385 on bench press. 550 on squats. 600 on Dead lifts. I'm a Vegan and don't take any supplements.

Wow Boodie, those lifts are crazy strong! Very inspirational, reading your bench number is some added motivation for an upcoming chest workout haha.

Agree with other comments here, I've been switching up the workouts as of late. Just switched to a full body workout three times a week. This was something I would be open to a year ago (was set on keeping a regular four day or five day split) and have seen some good results lately. Also helps for keeping things interesting and fun in the gym, and not doing the same things over and over again which can hurt my motivation sometimes.

THANKyou so much for sharing this blogi will definetly follw this blog and implement it on my dailu schedulei have one more blog to increase strengthREAD HERE- https://crbtechreviews.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/6-ways-to-build-strength-without-the-size/

Lots of guys at the local gym are keen to get jacked unbelievably as possible. CRB Tech Reviews simplifies how to gain strength without any size issue.But every athlete doesn’t want to build massive muscles. Why not consider the gymnasts, who use their body weight as their primary resistance. They know that strength is required but additional bulk could be more hindrance than a help. Similarly, athletes who compete in weight classes wants to be as strong while trimming away any unnecessary pounds.So here we summarise a few tips of how to gain strength without the size:

1. Heavy lift

Lifting heavy will improve your strength by acting on the motor units and the muscle fibers associated with these motor units have the potential for increasing your strength. But they fatigue quickly. So remember maximal lifting is best applied for multijoint exercises (e.g., squats, deadlifts, presses, and pulls).

lift2. Lift Explosively

Speed lifts (e.g., box squats, speed deads, and speed bench) are an excellent lifting style to accelerate and for power development. Weights around 60% 1RM must be used and moved possibly. Accommodating resistance like bands and chains can be used to further challenge your ability to accelerate the load.

3. Do Polymetrics

Also known as jump training, this involves hop- and jump-type exercises that trains and develop the stretch shortening cycle. This cycle trains the body to better utilize stored elastic energy to yield stronger and more vigorous contractions. This improvement in reactive ability can also be explained by improvements in muscle-tendon stiffness. Moreover weighted plyometric exercises can be used such as successive body-weight jumps over hurdles or continuous dumbbell jump squats.4. Use Sprints and Drills

Nothing can build running speed and quickness on the field better than sprinting . Performing sprint intervals or hill sprints (linear) or agility drills (multi-directional) will help develop strength and power specific to running and cutting.5. Contrast Training

It is the fusion type style which includes heavy strength training and plyometric training in the same workout. So you must be wondering what could be the physiological mechanism behind this training method. Well, it is known as post-activation potentiation, or PAP in short. So you need to start with a heavy strength training exercise about five-rep max. After a 3–10 minutes break, you’ll need to perform a similar plyometric exercise for about 5-10 reps.

exercise

Make sure to take some break in between. If the interval between the strength and plyometric exercise is too short, that will cause fatigue and a reduced jump performance.

6. Rest Longer

Yes! You read it right. Rest is very essential for about 30-60 seconds between sets. If you are training for strength, you need to increase your rest period to about 2–5 minutes, based on the exercise. Your mental power and ability to focus on the heavy set will also be influenced by the longer break.

So guys keep your eyes on this page of CRB Tech Solutions for our upcoming fitness and health articles……words shared by fitness expertises.